


Snowball Fight

by Rose_of_Pollux



Series: Inktober for Writers, 2019 [11]
Category: Perfect Strangers
Genre: Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 11:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20994008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: [Season 3ish].  It’s the first snowstorm of the season, and Balki is considerably more enthusiastic about it than his companions.





	Snowball Fight

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by today’s Inktober prompt (“snow”) and takes place around season 3.

The first real snowfall of Chicago was usually the only one that the city residents appreciated; anything beyond that first snow usually was an annoyance once the tedium of winter set in. and even then, the first snowfall was, more often than not, seen as a preview of things to come in the months ahead—a portent of the icy messes winter would bring.

Balki was the one, naturally, who appreciated the snow the most, having grown up with the mild, Mediterranean winters. The others… not so much—having lived in the Midwest all their lives, snow had lost its novelty long, long ago.

Nevertheless, Balki managed to convince the others to accompany him for a walk in Grant Park, but it was still difficult for them to get enthused about it—even Mary Anne, who would always find Balki’s quirks endearing, was only just able to keep up, pulling her coat around her as tightly as she could.

“Oh, come on!” Balki said. “When was the last time you three really took the time to appreciate the snow?”

“We did our time,” Larry insisted. “Every winter of our lives, it’s been the same old story!”

Balki shrugged and walked onward, pausing to admire the icicles hanging from tree branches. Mary Anne made a bit of an effort to accompany him, but even she was finding it hard to share his excitement and fell back with Larry and Jennifer.

“Does anything get him down?” Larry wondered aloud.

“Sometimes, I wonder that, too,” Mary Anne agreed. 

A cold breeze blew through the park, causing Larry and the girls to cringe.

Jennifer shuddered.

“Ugh… If things are this bad now, I can only wonder what January will be like,” she stated.

“Don’t say it,” Larry pleaded.

“You know I don’t have to,” she pointed out. “We’re in for quite a winter. That means less money coming in for Mary Anne and me—flights will be getting grounded a lot, and a lot of them getting canceled…”

“And that means winter budgeting,” Mary Anne added, making a face.

“And I’ll probably be working from home a lot,” Larry sighed. “…But Balki will probably have to go in to work still—can’t exactly bring the mailroom to him. Ah well—at least he actually _likes_ this weather.”

“That’s what he says now; wait until he has to walk in that wind chill…” Jennifer pointed out.

Mary Anne suddenly let out a yelp, dodging a snowball.

The three looked back at Balki, who was grinning at them.

“Come on, you three!” he called. “I challenge you to a snowball fight!”

“Balki, please…” Larry said, shaking his head. “I had my fill of snowball fights as a kid—you don’t know what it’s like, growing up with eight other siblings! I had to throw snowballs to survive out there!”

“Ha! Well, then you must have dulled your skills if you are reluctant to face me, then!” Balki challenged.

“Nice try, Buddy, but you’re going to have to do better than that to drag me into a snowball fight!”

Larry looked back at the girls with an amused expression.

“He keeps forgetting that I’ve dealt with all of this before! _Eight_ siblings!”

“Well, maybe so, but you _are_ the first brother he’s ever had,” Jennifer reminded him. “Well, close enough, anyway.”

Larry considered this.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he mused. “Still, I think we’re all a little old for this, don’t you?”

“I don’t know about that; Balki isn’t giving up,” Mary Anne noted.

Balki threw another snowball their way, and Larry casually sidestepped it.

“I just gotta use the same tactics I did back home,” Larry insisted. “He’ll lose interest soon enough. Standard trick; it worked on the youngest ones. Of course, Elaine was the one who took more than that to get dissuaded—”

He was cut off as Balki’s next snowball got him; snow covered his hair and the side of his face.

“…But, sometimes, you just have to teach them the hard way that you’re the better snowball thrower. Excuse me, Ladies…”

Larry scooped up a snowball in each hand and charged. Balki’s eyes widened; he had not expected Larry to be dual-wielding snowballs. Quickly realizing that Larry had not been blowing smoke after all, Balki took off, with Larry in hot pursuit, trying to make snowballs on the run.

“Jennifer, do you see what I see?” Mary Anne asked.

“The two of them having fun out there?”

“Well, that… But I also see two guys who are so focused on throwing snowballs at each other that they’d be wide-open to a few snowballs from us.”

She gave Jennifer a mischievous smirk, which she returned.

And soon, it was a four-way free-for-all, the cold and the impending winter temporarily forgotten as all cares vanished for a blissful hour.


End file.
